Thief

Thief, a stealth title that entered the scene on 2014-02-24, is a demanding test for modern hardware, but the pairing of the Intel Core Ultra X9 388H and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 offers a clear picture of how this game scales. The CPU, with its 16 cores and 16 threads, reaches a boost clock of 5.10 GHz, while the GPU brings 12 GB of GDDR6X memory and an Ada Lovelace architecture. The measured FPS data spans four resolutions and four settings, revealing how this combination behaves across the board.

Resolution Scaling

The most immediate observation from the measured data is how frame rates collapse as resolution climbs. At 1080p, the Low preset delivers an average of 184 FPS, and the Ultra preset still manages 101 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440, those numbers drop to 126 FPS for Low and 70 FPS for Ultra. At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 74 FPS, while Ultra falls to 41 FPS. This pattern holds across every settings tier: the 4K averages are roughly half of their 1080p counterparts, and the drop from 1440p to 4K is consistently larger than the drop from 1080p to 1440p.

The implications for the limiting component are clear. Because the frame rate scales so directly with resolution, the GPU is the dominant constraint at higher pixel counts. The CPU's 16 threads and 5.10 GHz boost clock do not appear to be the bottleneck, as even at 1080p Low the system reaches 184 FPS, a value that suggests the processor can feed the GPU adequately at low resolution. The GPU's 504.2 GB/s memory bandwidth and 12 GB frame buffer are sufficient to handle the texture and geometry loads, but the shading units and pixel rate are what ultimately govern the resolution scaling. The data implies that for anyone targeting 4K, the GPU will be the first component to hit its ceiling, while at 1080p the system still has headroom.

How This Combo Ranks

Among the 3,720 tested combinations, this setup sits at rank 1876. That places it squarely in the middle of the distribution, a surprising outcome given the individual strengths of the components. The CPU alone sits in the 88th percentile of all processors, with an average benchmark score of 44,466. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D, scores 44,573, a difference of 0.2% — effectively a tie. The GPU, meanwhile, ranks in the 81st percentile, with an average score of 37,648, and its closest competitor, the NVIDIA Tesla P4, scores 37,628, a gap of 0.1%. Both parts are comfortably in the upper tier of their respective pools.

Yet the combined result in Thief places the setup at rank 1,876 of 3,720, meaning more than half of the tested combinations achieve better performance in this game. The discrepancy between the component-level rankings and the in-game rank suggests that Thief is not a workload that scales well with the raw compute power these parts offer. The game's age, given its 2014 release, likely means it does not utilize the CPU's many cores or the GPU's modern features as effectively as newer titles. The CPU's 16 cores are probably idle for much of the game's execution, and the GPU's RT and tensor cores, which number 46 and 184 respectively, may not be engaged at all.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides a clear view of what each preset delivers at each resolution. At 1080p, every preset produces a high average frame rate: Low at 184 FPS, Medium at 140 FPS, High at 106 FPS, and Ultra at 101 FPS. The gap between Ultra and Low is 83 FPS, but even the lowest average here is well above what most players would consider playable. At 1440p, the presets still offer a wide range: Low gives 126 FPS, Medium 96 FPS, High 73 FPS, and Ultra 70 FPS. The 96 FPS from Medium is a notable step above High's 73, and the 70 FPS from Ultra is still a respectable number.

At 4K, the situation tightens. Low produces 74 FPS, Medium 56 FPS, High 43 FPS, and Ultra 41 FPS. The Medium preset is the only one that includes a min and max measurement — 48 to 65 FPS — indicating that its performance is relatively stable, with a floor just below its average of 56. The High preset's 43 FPS and Ultra's 41 FPS are close to each other, but both are well below the Medium's average. For a player prioritizing frame rate over visual detail, the Medium preset at 4K is the highest setting that stays in the 50-60 range, while Low offers a comfortable 74 FPS. At 1440p, Medium or High both provide averages above 70 FPS, and at 1080p, even Ultra stays above 100 FPS.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate this combo can achieve in Thief?

A: The maximum average is 184 FPS, recorded at 1920x1080 with the Low preset.

Q: What is the lowest average frame rate recorded?

A: The lowest average is 41 FPS at 3840x2160 with the Ultra preset.

Q: How does the CPU's single-thread performance relate to Thief's gameplay?

A: The CPU has a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2200.5, and the game runs at 184 FPS at 1080p Low, suggesting that the CPU's single-thread speed is more than sufficient for a title from 2014.

Q: How much VRAM does the GPU have, and is it enough?

A: The GPU has 12 GB of GDDR6X memory. The game's frame rates at 4K, including a 74 FPS average at Low, indicate that the memory capacity is not a constraint.

Q: Does the combo rank well among all tested configurations?

A: It ranks 1876 out of 3720, which places it in the middle of the distribution.

Q: What is the GPU's memory bandwidth?

A: The GPU's memory bandwidth is 504.2 GB/s, with a 192-bit bus and a memory clock of 1313 MHz.

GPU Role

The RTX 4070 is a mid-to-high-end part, built on a 5 nm process with 35,800 million transistors. It features 5,888 shading units, 184 texture mapping units, and 64 raster output units. The boost clock is 2475 MHz, and the base clock is 1920 MHz. The memory runs at 1313 MHz, which translates to 21 Gbps effective, over a 192-bit interface that yields 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth. The 12 GB frame buffer is substantial for a 2014 game, and the measured frame rates confirm that capacity is not a limiting factor.

The GPU's role in Thief becomes evident when comparing resolution scaling. At 1080p, the average FPS for the Low preset is 184, a number that suggests the GPU is not the bottleneck at that resolution. However, as the pixel count rises, the frame rate drops in near-lockstep with the pixel load. The difference between 1080p and 4K is the most telling: the Ultra preset goes from 101 to 41 FPS, a reduction of 60 FPS. This is a classic sign of a GPU-bound scenario, where the fill rate and shading capacity become the primary constraint. The GPU's 29.15 TFLOPS FP32 compute and 158.4 GPixel/s pixel rate are what limit performance at higher resolutions, not the CPU. The GPU's 46 ray tracing cores and 184 tensor cores are present, but Thief likely does not use them, so their impact on the measured numbers is negligible.

The GPU's benchmark position is also relevant. It ranks in the 81st percentile of all GPUs, with an average score of 37,648. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA Tesla P4, scores 37,628, a 0.1% difference, and the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 is 0.4% behind. The RTX 4070 is a solid performer, and the data shows it handles Thief's 1080p and 1440p settings with ease, but at 4K it requires a low preset to stay above 70 FPS.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra X9 388H is a 16-core, 16-thread mobile processor with a base clock of 2.10 GHz and a boost clock of 5.10 GHz. Its cache includes a shared 18 MB L3, and it supports LPDDR5X memory with a bandwidth of 153.6 GB/s. The CPU's benchmark results are strong: a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 18,911 and a single-core score of 2200.5. Its Passmark single-thread score is 4280, and its multi-thread score is 36,811. The CPU ranks in the 88th percentile of all CPUs, with an average score of 44,466.

In Thief, the CPU's role is not the primary constraint. The game's 2014 release predates the widespread adoption of multi-core rendering, so it likely relies heavily on a single thread. The CPU's single-core performance, evidenced by the 2200.5 R23 score, is more than enough to handle the game's logic. The 1080p Low average of 184 FPS shows that the CPU can drive high frame rates when the GPU is not the limit. Even at 1080p Ultra, the system maintains 101 FPS, which is well above the CPU's likely ceiling. The CPU's 16 cores may be idle during the game, but the high boost clock of 5.10 GHz ensures that the main thread runs fast.

The CPU's nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D, which has an average score of 44,573 (0.2% lower), and the Intel Core i9-13950HX at 44,342 (0.3% higher). These small deltas indicate that the Ultra X9 is competitive with other high-end mobile chips. However, the game's rank of 1876 out of 3720 suggests that the CPU's strength is not fully utilized in Thief. The CPU is not the bottleneck; the GPU takes over as resolution increases, and at 4K, the CPU's contribution is minimal. The data supports the idea that the CPU is more than adequate for this title, and its performance is not a limiting factor at any of the measured settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 3840x2160, the average frame rates are as follows: Low 74 FPS, Medium 56 FPS with a minimum of 48 and a maximum of 65, High 43 FPS, and Ultra 41 FPS. The Medium preset is the only one at 4K with a recorded min and max, giving a range of 17 FPS between the floor and ceiling.

At 2560x1440, the average frame rates are: Low 126 FPS, Medium 96 FPS with a min of 82 and a max of 110, High 73 FPS, and Ultra 70 FPS. The Medium preset's min and max span 28 FPS, which is a wider range than at 4K.

At 1920x1080, the average frame rates are: Low 184 FPS, Medium 140 FPS with a min of 119 and a max of 161, High 106 FPS, and Ultra 101 FPS. The Medium preset's min and max span 42 FPS, showing that the frame rate is less stable at this resolution, but the averages are all high.

The data shows that the Medium preset is the only one with recorded min/max values, which suggests that the measurement process captured a consistent profile for that setting. The 1080p Medium range of 119 to 161 FPS indicates that the game can vary significantly, but the average of 140 FPS remains smooth. At 1440p Medium, the 82 to 110 range is tighter, and at 4K Medium, the 48 to 65 range is the most constrained. These min/max values provide a sense of frame pacing that the other presets lack, but the overall averages are the primary metric for comparing the settings.